Colonel Jr
by md1347
Summary: What would an "evil" Noah be like? Inspiration came from the picture of Haken from Jake's movie Stuffer.


**Colonel Jr.**

by Mike Douglas

_Special thanks to nezabudka1 for help with editing the story._

Rating: NC-17 (Adult Language, Violence)

_Disclaimer: Luke, Noah, and all related characters, plots, and locations are property of As the World Turns, Telenext Media, and CBS Television. No profit is made from this fan creation. No copyright infringement is intended!_

-P-

Summary: Ever wonder what an "evil" Noah would be like? Inspiration came from the picture of Haken from Jake's movie Stuffer.

-P-

"Luke, are you here?" asked Noah.

Not hearing an answer, Noah gingerly got out of bed. His sight was still blurry from surgery with hopes that he would gain his full sight back in due time. But for Noah to see anything at this point was simply amazing and his sight was getting clearer and clearer as the hours went by.

Noah slowly stepped out into the hospital hallway and called for Luke again. Still no response. With his hand against the wall, he walked down the hall and looked in a window. That is when he saw Luke arguing with someone. He wasn't sure who it was.

"Hey, Noah. What's up?" asked Richard interrupting Noah's thoughts.

"Who's that?" Noah pointed through the window at Luke and some guy he was talking to.

"That's Dr. Oliver... He's hot."

Noah looked at Richard quickly, then back through the window again, only to see Reid and Luke kissing.

"Whoa!" Richard was surprised by the kiss.

Noah grabbed his head while he slowly walked back.

"Noah, are you okay?" Richard was concerned.

"No, I don't think so. My head feels like it's going to split open." Noah continued backing up until he was against the far wall of the hallway, bumping the back of his head against the wall. Before Richard could get Reid, Noah yelled out in agony and collapsed.

-P-

Richard opened the door to the room that Luke and Reid were in and ran in panicking. "Noah just collapsed."

Luke and Reid rushed out of the room.

"What happened?" Reid ran over to Noah and started taking his vitals.

"He saw the two of you kissing and said that it felt like his head was splitting open. He walked backward into the wall and banged his head against it, yelled out in pain and then collapsed."

"Get a nurse, quick."

Richard ran down the hall to the nurses' station.

Several nurses ran down the hall with a stretcher, lifted Noah on to it and moved him back into his room. All Noah's vitals looked good but his eyes seemed different to Reid. They weren't as reactive as before and seemed different somehow. Reid ordered an MRI immediately. Bob came into the room and Reid updated him about Noah's collapse. One of the nurses wheeled Noah out of the room.

"What's wrong with Noah?" Luke was barely able to hold back the tears.

"We are not sure yet. I've ordered an MRI." Reid stated. "There's no sign of stroke or anything else that I can tell. He seems to be fine."

"Do you think it's because..." Luke looked knowingly at Reid.

"No, I don't. This may be some side effect from the surgery. Some swelling maybe." Reid was trying to calm down Luke.

"What am I not being told?" Bob could see that something else was going on.

Reid and Luke looked at each other.

"Someone better tell me. Now!" Bob raised his voice.

"He saw us kissing." replied Reid.

Bob was pissed. "Do you have any idea how inappropriate it is on multiple levels for you to kiss your patient's boyfriend?" Bob yelled at Reid.

"Ex-boyfriend." Luke was trying to defuse the situation.

"It's unethical for any hospital staff to be hitting on a patient's emotional or financial support. You just ruined the doctor-patient relationship, doctor. I'm willing to bet that Noah will no longer wish to be your patient."

"He seemed fine until the kiss." Richard offered, hoping to find out what happened to his friend.

"He's not fine now." Bob turned and faced Reid. **"**No more kissing and you will consult all decisions with me about Noah's care from now on. Is that clear doctor?"

Reid nodded in reply and Bob walked out of the room. Richard followed him out to talk to Bob.

"Do you think he will be okay?" Luke wanted some reassurance.

"I don't know. We will have to wait till the test comes back." Reid seemed unconcerned.

-P-

In radiology, Noah woke up during his test with the instinct that he needed to get out of the hospital. Recognizing the sound of the MRI machine, he decided to play it cool in order not to arise suspicion. His father always taught him, when he was young, what to do if he found himself in enemy territory. Take your time and look for the right time to escape. The nurse came in and pulled Noah's bed out from under the MRI device and headed back to check on the results of the test. He waited until the nurse had left the room before he got up and snuck out. He needed his clothes and keys that were in his locker so he cautiously headed back to his room.

-P-

Luke sat patiently in the waiting room with Richard for what seemed like forever.

Luke saw Bob walk out of another patient's room when he heard a voice calling out for Dr. Hughes. He turned his head in the direction that the voice was coming from as a nurse ran past him. It was the same nurse who took Noah down to get the MRI. He got up and ran after her.

She ran up to Bob. "He's gone."

"Who?" asked Bob.

"Noah Mayer."

"What do you mean he's gone?" Luke said with slight panic in his voice.

"We finished with the scan and went to check the results. When we went to bring him back to his room, he wasn't on his bed. I've alerted security." said the nurse.

"Did he regain consciousness during the test?" asked Bob.

"No, he was unconscious the whole time."

Reid joined the impromptu conversation and was filled in on the details by Bob. Luke grabbed Reid and they walked down the hall to talk.

-P-

Noah, back on his floor, saw Luke and Reid walking down towards him and quickly snuck into his room. He grabbed his clothes out of his locker and ran into the bathroom to change. As he began to change his clothing, Reid and Luke walked into his room.

"Look, I think it's best that Noah not be told about the night of his surgery." said Luke.

"What, you don't want your boyfriend knowing we almost had sex?" Reid made fun of Luke. Luke stared angrily at him. "Seems like the best course of action."

"I'm going to see if they found anything." Luke ran out of the room.

Noah couldn't believe what he had heard. How could Luke do this to him? Noah's head started throbbing again. "I have got to get out of here." Noah thought.

He walked out into the room behind Reid and grabbed him. He gave Reid a few kidney shots and shoved him up against the wall.

"You rotten son of a bitch." growled Noah. "So you and Luke wanted to fuck while I was in a coma, huh?"

"Mr. Mayer, it's not what you think."

"It's exactly what I think."

He turned Reid around and shoved him up against the wall with his forearm pressing against Reid's neck. They stood there for what seemed like hours. Reid couldn't believe the change. It was like Noah had become a different person. His eyes were still looking strange, almost like they were a new color. His left eye seemed to be hazing over and he kept moving his head around, like he was in a combat zone or something. He seemed really nervous and fidgety. He could tell that Noah was in immense pain.

"You will be lucky if I don't kill you." Noah threatened. "Was that really a bleeder during my surgery or did you try to kill me, Dr. Oliver?"

"I would never do anything like that."

Tears ran down Noah's face. "No, but you would fuck my boyfriend. What an idiot I am!" finally understanding the situation. "I should have seen it coming. He was jealous of Richard and when he's jealous, he starts hitting on other men." Noah winced in pain. "That bitch can't be trusted. My father tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. I should have listened... I should have listened... I should have listened."

Reid was surprised by Noah growing irrational behavior.

"Makes sense to me now. You wanted me gone, so you could have Luke." Noah said quickly. "I should kill you."

"That wouldn't be a wise thing to do, Mr. Mayer." Unflappable Reid almost had fear in his voice. "Let me give you something for the pain."

"Don't you fucking move, bitch." Noah said as Reid attempted to move. Reid noticed that Noah grabbed his head. "You know doctor, you are pretty hot. I'd fuck you right now, if I had the time but I don't." Noah continued in an cold icy voice. He winced again in pain. "That bitch can't get away with this. He's been a bad boy again and I'll have to teach him a lesson. This behavior cannot continue."

Reid attempted to move again but Noah started punching him in the face and stomach multiple times with both fists, until he collapsed on the ground. Noah went quickly over to the door to check if anyone was approaching his room. He walked back over to Reid and took his keys and wallet out of his pocket.

"Noah, don't." whispered Reid.

"Fuck you, doctor. Be thankful I didn't kill you." Noah winced again. "Too bad, doctor, I don't have time to take your ass. I'm really big and I know how to use it." Reid was surprised by Noah's frankness. "Don't be surprised, baby. Why do you think Luke keeps coming back to me?" He said seductively as he ran his hand over Reid's ass before he winced in pain again. "Fuck off slut. Is this how you seduced my boyfriend?" Noah got up and went to the door.

Noah sneaked out of the room, when nobody was around, and ran down to the hall to the stairs. He ran down them as fast as he could, avoiding contact with everyone. When he got down to the ground floor, he relaxingly walked through the front door of the hospital without anyone noticing that he was a patient. Once in the parking lot, he approached a woman getting out of her car, pushed her down and grabbed her keys from her hand. He got into the car and sped away.

-P-

Luke walked back down the hall, upset that they still hadn't found Noah when he walked into Noah's room and saw Reid lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Oh shit." Luke yelled as he ran up to Reid.

"Get Bob and security." Reid whispered in pain.

Luke ran out to find Bob and security. When they ran into the room, Bob helped Reid up into the bed as the security guard questioned Reid about the events that took place.

"It was Noah." Luke was shocked by Reid's accusation. "He threatened to kill me and then stole my wallet and keys."

"No, it couldn't have been." Luke was in denial. Noah wouldn't do this.

Bob started examining Reid. "Boy, he really pounded you. You will have two black eyes by the look of it and your nose doesn't seem to be broken. Your ribs don't look to be broken either but we should x-ray them, just in case."

"Noah was acting irrational. He said I was trying to steal his boyfriend and trying to kill him during surgery. He said something about his father being right and that Luke had to be taught a lesson. Every time he experienced a surge of pain, his personality seemed to change from a soldier, to a jealous lover, to a seducer and then back to soldier again."

"A seducer?" Bob asked in a funny tone.

"Yes, he started to rub my ass and said that he had a big dick and knew how to use it."

Luke gasped for air. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His Noah wouldn't say or do those things.

The security guard's phone rang and he answered it. After he finished the conversation, he returned to the three gentlemen. "A dark haired man was spotted walking out of the hospital a few minutes ago and stole a car. That might be our Mr. Mayer."

"Why is this happening? What made Noah do this?" Luke asked in shock.

Martin, the radiologist who looked at Noah's MRI, walked into Noah's room quickly. "Dr. Hughes, you need to look at this." He shoved his tablet computer into Bob's hand and showed him Noah's MRI. "Look right here."

Bob looked over the MRI images. "That would explain it. Noah's brain has a lot of swelling around the emotional center of his brain. It's probably causing Noah's irrational behavior." Reid looked at it and agreed with the diagnosis.

-P-

About twenty minutes later, Margo walked into the hospital room. "What have you found out about Noah?"

Bob gave her the run down on what they think is happening to Noah.

"I have more bad news. A man who fits Noah physical description robbed the convince store on Main Street."

"I can't believe this." Luke raised his hands to his face.

Margo's cell phone began to ring and she stepped away from the group to answer it.

She hung up the phone. "It looks like Noah's in a high speed chase with two of our deputies. This isn't looking good for Noah at the moment."

"It's not his fault, Margo. You can't blame him for this. It's a medical condition." Luke pleaded, hoping to help the situation.

"We can't be positive about that, Luke."

"He just woke up from brain surgery and there's an MRI with evidence that supports that there could be a physical reason why he's acting this way."

Margo's phone rang again. "Margo... anyone hurt?... are you sure?... find him and get him here to the hospital. There might be a medical reason why he's acting bizarre." Margo hung up her cell phone. "Noah's car missed the curve going out of town and hit a tree but he escaped before the deputies could get to the car. They reported that there was blood on the steering wheel, dash and windshield."

"I can't believe this is happening." Luke was shocked to hear the latest news on Noah's whereabouts. Tears began to run down Luke's face at the thought that Noah was out there hurt.

"I think it's best that you both have security until we catch Noah." Margo looked at both Reid and Luke.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Dad, I need you. Can you come to the hospital right away?"

"What's wrong?" asked Holden with a little fear in his voice.

"It's Noah. I'll tell you when you get here." Luke didn't want to get into it on the phone.

"Okay, I'll be right down." replied a worried Holden.

Bob turned to the security guard. "You stay here with Luke until Holden shows up. I'm going to take Reid down to x-ray. Have someone from security meet us there."

"Yes, sir." replied the security guard.

-P-

Holden arrived to the hospital fifteen minutes later and met Luke in Noah's hospital room. "Where's Noah?" when he saw the bed empty.

"That's the big question." replied Luke.

Luke told Holden everything he knew.

"He saw you kissing Dr. Oliver?" Holden asked cautiously.

"Let's not get into that now. If he is coming after me, then I shouldn't be alone. Let's get out of here and go to the farm."

"Okay but you will have to discuss it sometime."

"Just not now." Luke hoped that Holden would just drop it.

When they got to the farm, Holden searched through the house but Noah was not there.

-P-

It's been two days since there was any sightings of Noah anywhere in Oakdale. It's like he just dropped off the face of the earth. But Noah was at the farm. He was in his favorite spot on the planet. It was the secluded spot out by the pond where he and Luke used to come and make love when he lived at the farm. Noah huddled under a tree in pain for two days before he ventured out to look for Luke.

-P-

"I'm going out to the barn for a minute. I'll be right back." said Holden.

"Okay." replied Luke.

Holden walked out the kitchen door but Luke didn't hear the back door open.

Luke got up to from the kitchen table and was immediately pulled by the back of his shirt into the living room.

"Noah, are you okay?" asked Luke. Luke took a long look at Noah. It was obvious to Luke that Noah hadn't showered or changed his clothes for two days. They were bloody, wrinkled and dirty. Luke could tell from Noah's demeanor that he was still having emotional issues.

"No, I'm not." Noah said in a voice that reminded Luke of Noah's father.

Luke looked at the blood that had dried from a long gash on the left side of his neck and he saw blood running through his shirt on his left shoulder. "Let me look at your wounds."

"No." yelled Noah as he searched the rooms off the living room to make sure nobody was there. "Is that why you left me... for him?"

"No, Noah, it's not." Luke answered calmly.

"I loved you, Luke and you dumped me for that piece of shit." Noah yelled again.

"You didn't want me, Noah and we had broken up before Reid kissed me." Luke answered in a similar tone as Noah's.

Noah grabbed his head in pain.

"Have you fucked him?" Noah yelled.

"No."

"You better never fuck him or I'll see to it that you never fuck again." Noah said with icy venom in is voice.

"You're scaring me, Noah. You are sounding a lot like your father." Luke's voice was full of fear.

"Good, you should be scared. You deserve it. You fucking slut." replied Noah. "You're just like my father said."

"What?" Luke asked in surprise.

"He tried to warn me that our love was wrong but I didn't listen."

"Noah..."

Noah grabbed his head in pain again. "Shut up." he yelled.

"Please, Noah. Let me call Jack. You need some medical attention." pleaded Luke.

"No." shouted Noah as he raised the gun pointing it at Luke. Luke shook in fear knowing that Noah, in the emotional state that he was in, would shoot him.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Noah asked with tears in his eyes. "I would die for you, Luke."

"I love you too, Noah."

"No, you don't. You wouldn't be fucking my doctor if you loved me. First Brian, now Reid. Why do you keep doing this to me, Luke?" Noah lowered the gun as he began to cry.

"Noah, it's not what you think."

Noah hissed, "I heard you... you... you almost had sex with Reid when I was in a coma. Didn't you love me at all?"

"Shit." Luke said to himself. I can't believe he overheard that. "I love you, Noah but we are not dating anymore. We broke up, remember?"

"It took you what, a minute to move on from me." Noah yelled.

"No, Noah..." Luke felt he was having the same conversation again with Noah.

"You said we would work on things but you kissed Reid, like you kissed Brian? I saw you... I saw you." Noah was yelling and sounding more and more irrational.

"That was totally different." Luke yelled back.

"Was it?" asked Noah. "You were scared I was fucking Maddie, now you're scared I'm fucking Richard."

"I was drunk then when I kissed Brian."

"That's no excuse. That's twice you fucked around on me and it's not going to happen again."

Noah raised the gun at Luke again.

-P-

"Luke, where are you?" yelled Holden as he walked through the front door of the farm house.

"Shit." Noah yelled in anger. "If you don't want me fine. You'll never have to worry about me again."

But before he could leave, Holden walked through the door. Noah grabbed Luke, turned him around, put his arm around his neck and pulled the gun up to his head.

"Don't move, Holden." shouted Noah. "Or I'll kill him."

Suddenly, Luke's life flashed before his eyes as tears rolled down his face.

"Noah, don't." pleaded Holden. Holden noticed that Noah's voice sounded exactly like Colonel Mayers.

"Don't what? Shoot the cheating slut?"

Holden could see that Noah was in bad shape physically and mentally. "Let Luke go, Noah."

"No. He cheated on me. He did... He did... He did." Noah rambled.

"You broke up, remember. You broke up in the spring."

"That's because he wanted to fuck my doctor." Noah grabbed Luke tighter. "Didn't you slut?"

Holden shook when he heard the anger in Noah's voice.

"Does he kiss better than me, Luke?" taunted Noah. "Is his dick bigger than mine?" Noah ran his tongue from Luke's chin to his temple and shoved his crotch into Luke's ass. "I bet I'm better in bed than that know it all fucking doctor bitch."

Noah suffered another headache attack, causing him to shut his eyes for a few seconds. Holden could see that Noah was in immense pain.

"Noah stop it, you're hurting me."

"I haven't yet begun to hurt you, Luke. You're coming with me to where it should have ended three years ago."

Noah lowered the gun from Luke's head far enough for Luke to feel safe in ramming his elbow into Noah's stomach. Noah stumbled back as Luke broke free and ran over to Holden. But before they could do anything, Noah ran out the door and was gone before they could catch him.

"Shit." Holden yelled as he pulled out his cell phone to call Margo. He recounted to Margo what had happened but before he could finish telling her all the details, he heard a vehicle startup. He ran out to the driveway and saw Noah taking off in his truck. "Shit, Noah just stole my truck Margo, and I know where he is going."

-P-

Noah stopped by his house and picked up his video camera before jumping in his own truck and heading off to the woods where his dad shot Luke. Once in the woods, Noah slowly got out of the truck. He was tired, his head felt as though it was splitting open but he still had enough energy to stagger into the woods. He hasn't been there since the shooting but he knew the exact spot. It was seared into his memory forever.

Noah turned the camera on and set it up on the fallen tree.

"I never thought I would be here again. I loved him so much but all he did was leave me and move on with someone else as soon as we broke up. I only want Luke to be happy and he will be happier when I'm not around. He doesn't love me anymore." Noah was crying. "They almost had sex the night of my surgery when I was in a coma and they thought I had brain damage or could die. How fucking cold! Did I mean nothing to him at all? My dad tried to warn me. Maybe he was right after all."

Noah was hit with another massive headache. "Ahhh... my head, it hurts so bad..." Noah was getting more delusional. "I should have killed Reid. That man is a waste of a human being. Sure, he's good looking but he's just an asshole. It's funny to hear everyone at the hospital complain about him. Everyone hates him." Noah laughed. "What the hell is Luke thinking? The man hates everyone. How in the world does Luke think Reid is the one for him..." Noah's tone turned to ice. "I wish I could have killed my dad. That worthless son of a bitch. He virtually tortured me. Luke always wanted me to tell him about my childhood but he could never handle the truth. He grew up in the life of luxury. He has no idea what kind of pain I've been in."

Noah heard someone coming towards him and ducked behind a fallen tree that he had set the camera on. The camera still had a full shot of Noah.

"Noah." a man's voiced yelled.

"Where are you, Noah?" yelled a woman's voice.

They came into the clearing and saw Noah.

"Stay away." warned Noah, as he raised the gun up to his head.

"Put the gun down, Noah." Jack was shocked at how bad Noah looked.

"Noah, please, just put the gun down. Let's go to the station. We can talk this out." Margo was just as shocked as Jack. Noah's always been an upstanding person.

"Fuck off. The only place I'm going to is the morgue." Noah's voice was icy and cold.

"Come on Noah. You have a medical condition, that's what's making you think and act this strangely. They can fix it." Jack pleaded.

"You're lying to me so I put my gun down." Noah replied. "Did he... Did he tell you? They almost fucked the night of my surgery." Noah started crying again. "I almost died and he wanted to fuck my doctor."

Jack and Margo were shocked.

"You said almost, Noah. That means he didn't." Jack tried to talk Noah down.

"He wanted too. I saw them kissing at the hospital, right behind my back. My father tried to warn me about Luke but I didn't listen." Noah was emotional.

"Your father was nuts, Noah." replied Margo. "Put the gun down."

"I should have believed my father."

"No."

Noah was hit by another huge crushing migraine. Only this time it was worse. His eyesight started to become blurry again. "Aahhhhh" Noah screamed out as he put his hands to his head. Noah went totally blind, he couldn't see anything.

"Noooo, I can't see... I can't see." Noah screamed.

"Put the gun down and we will help you, Noah."

"Noooo, I can't do this again." Noah raised the gun to his chest.

"No, Noah, don't." Jack yelled. He knew what was coming.

"Noooo." screamed Margo.

Noah, with the gun pointed at his chest, pulled the trigger.

-P-

Noah's body was blown sideways to the ground. Jack and Margo looked in horror at the scene in front of them. They both ran towards Noah while at the same time calling for the paramedics that came with them. The paramedics were working on stabilizing Noah and loaded him into the ambulance as quickly as possible. Jack, not wanting Noah to be alone, hopped in and rode in the back of the ambulance as Margo cleared traffic in her police car.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Jack was astride Noah on the stretcher performing CPR, as the driver rolled them into the emergency room. Noah was immediately taken into surgery. Nurses and doctors flooded the room he was in. Lily, Holden and Luke were standing there in shock with tears rolling down their face. A few minutes later, Reid walked up behind them as Jack came out the door they wheeled Noah in. The front of Jack's body was covered in Noah's blood.

With tears in his eyes, Jack looked up at the people in the hallway until his eyes met with Luke's. He started walking towards Luke with anger in his eyes, until Holden stepped in between them and stopped Jack.

"What happened?" Holden demanded.

"We found him, right where you said he would be. He had a gun..."

Lily, Holden and Luke flinched.

"He started talking about crazy shit about his dad and Luke. He kept having these severe headaches as we talked and the last one blinded him. He was so upset at losing his sight that he shot himself in the chest." Jack didn't hold back. He wanted Luke to know exactly what happened.

Luke and Lily had tears rolling down their faces and Holden was near tears as well.

Jack looked over at Reid, "Don't you think you should be helping Noah instead of holding Luke's hand?"

"If he survives his wounds, I'll help him." Reid responded without any emotion.

Jack walked up to Luke and faced him. "This is the guy you almost slept with the night of Noah's surgery? You gave Noah up for him? You're crazier than Noah." said Jack as he walked away from everyone in disgust. Lily and Holden were in shock at what he revealed.

Luke, surprised by Jack's tone, looked at Jack walking away from him. He turned to his parents. "Before you say anything, just ask yourself who I learned this behavior from?" Lily and Holden looked at each other in shame.

Luke turned to look at Reid. "Does Bob know that Noah is here?"

"I don't think so." replied Reid.

Luke stepped up to him and yelled. "Don't you think you should tell him?"

Reid just looked at Luke and without saying anything walked away to find Bob. A few minutes later, Bob ran past them and into the room were Noah was being worked on.

-P-

Bob exited the operating room about thirty minutes later and was met by Luke, Holden, Lily and Jack, who came back after he had calmed down.

"He's stable but he's very weak. He could go either way at this point. The bullet grazed his lung and his heart before exiting his body through his ribs. We removed the bullet and repaired the damage caused by it. We've given him mannitol to try to reduce the swelling in his brain. If that doesn't help, then we may have to drain the blood from his brain but at this point, he's just too weak to survive that type of surgery."

"Was there any permanent damage to the heart?" Holden asked.

"No, the bullet just slightly grazed the heart. There wasn't much damage at all."

Everyone sighed in relief.

"He's not out of the woods yet. He's very weak and we still need to figure out how to get the swelling in his brain to go down." Bob looked at Jack. "Jack, let's get you changed out of those clothes."

Luke collapsed in one of the chairs and broke down crying.

-P-

For the next week, while Noah was recovering from the gun shot, the doctors kept him sedated as they worked on getting the swelling down in his brain. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, so they opted to reopen his skull to ease the pressure and drained the fluid. Reid was not the surgeon who performed the surgery because Bob believed that the doctor-patient relationship was severely damaged and Noah would not want Reid anywhere near him.

Luke stayed at the hospital twenty-four hours a day. He left only to take a shower, change and maybe get some extra sleep but mostly, he slept on a cot in Noah's room. Snyders came and went from Noah's room on almost an hourly basis. Noah woke up four days after they drained fluid from his brain but he didn't say a word nor did he acknowledge anyone. He responded to stimuli but nothing else until Emma came for a visit.

-P-

Emma walked into the room and saw Luke sitting there looking at Noah. Noah was just sitting there looking off into space.

"Luke, honey, go home and get some rest."

"Grandma, I do not want..."

Emma gave him a stern look. "Go home and get some rest, shower, something good to eat and then you can come back."

"Yes, Ma'am." Luke went up to Noah's bed, "I'll be back later, Noah." then walked out of the room.

Emma sat on the side of Noah's bed, "Now it's your turn."

Noah just looked at her. It was the first time he acknowledged anyone visiting him.

"Why are you giving the silent treatment, Noah?" asked Emma. Noah looked away. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." she said in a firm voice.

Noah looked back. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Why the silent treatment?" She took his hand in hers.

"I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Scared that I'll hurt someone... um... Luke. Look at what I did. I had a gun up to Luke's head. I threatened to kill him. I'm just like my father."

"You are not your father. You are one of the most kind and caring persons I know, Noah."

"But..."

"No buts, Noah. I can be a real bitch when someone messes with my family but that doesn't mean that I'm a bitch all the time. You had a medical condition that caused you to act crazy. You're cured now, so it won't happen again. If I believed otherwise I'd be chasing you down the hall with my shotgun." Emma smiled as she said those words.

Noah grinned too but he soon had tears falling down his face. "I'm always afraid that I'll turn out to be just like him."

She scooched up on the bed and pulled him into a hug as he cried on her shoulder.

Noah broke the hug and wiped his tears away. "How did you know... that I was okay?"

"I'm a Grandmother. You don't get to my age and not know when your grandkids are having trouble." Emma laughed.

"Um... can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Are those cookies I smell?"

"Why, yes they are." Emma, with a big smile on her face, pulled a bag out of her purse. "Look, they are still warm."

Noah's face suddenly broke into a huge grin. She handed them to Noah and he opened the bag, pulled out a cookie and started eating. Oatmeal raisin, his favorite.

-P-

Bob walked into the room and saw Emma talking with Noah and more importantly, Noah talking back to her, while eating cookies.

"I should have known one of Emma's miracle cookies would heal you." Bob laughed as he walked to the side of Noah's bed.

Noah lifted the bag of cookies up to Bob and he took one out of the bag. "Don't tell my wife. Hmm, they are still warm."

"I'm really sorry. I've been afraid that I'm turning into my father."

"I can see where that would upset you."

"But Emma talked to me and I'm feeling better now... and the cookies helped too." Noah laughed.

Luke walked in as Noah was laughing. "Noah." Luke had some anger in his voice.

Noah stopped laughing.

"Is that what happens when I leave. You talk to people and when I come back you ignore me?"

"Luke, stop that. He's scared he's turning into his father but I talked to him." Emma scolded Luke.

Both Emma and Bob left but not before Bob reached into the bag of cookies again.

"I'll be back to examine you in a few minutes." He pulled out a cookie and then reached back into the bag and pulled out a second cookie. "And this is for being a bad patient and not cooperating with me."

"Hey, isn't there a passage in the hippocratic oath about torture?"

Bob laughed and walked out of the room.

-P-

Taking a deep breath, Noah finally felt ready to face Luke. "Luke, I'm really sorry about what happened. I could have killed you." Tears were rolling down his face as he looked away in shame.

"I know you are, Noah."

"I'm not sure what happened to me but I'm really sorry that I turned into Colonel Jr. I couldn't control what I was doing."

"I know that, Noah. I knew that right after you beat up, Reid... Dr. Oliver."

Noah winced at hearing his name.

"I'm really sorry, Noah. I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't mean to lie or to sneak around behind your back. And even though this sounds totally lame, I was worried about your health and I didn't want to add any stress to your life. A lot of good that did, I seem to exude stress."

Noah giggled. Luke definitely came with a lot of stress. "It was a big shock, Luke. I know we've broke up. I also know we said on the roof that we would work on our relationship and I would like to but I'm not sure you really want that."

Luke started to reply but stopped when Margo walked into the room.

"You Mister are in a lot of trouble."

"Margo, you can't blame, Noah..."

Margo held up her hand to stop Luke. "I've talked to the District Attorney and he's inclined not to press charges but we are not going to close out this case right away. It will remain open and if you even sneeze in the wrong way, we will haul you in."

"Does that mean I can't be Starsky?"

"The last few days, you were definitely Hutch." Luke and Noah giggled at her response. "I'm glad you're feeling better and don't you ever do what you did in the woods ever again." She warned as she patted his leg and left the room.

-P-

Luke returned to the conversation before Margo walked into the room. "I understand why you feel that way, Noah." Luke started to tear up. "I've been here with you since they brought you in. I was here with you - not Reid. I was too scared to leave you because I thought you were going to die and that I would never get to tell you again that I loved you. I tried so hard to bury my feelings for you by being with someone else but that didn't stop, how I felt about you. It only made me miss you more."

"I've been sitting here for days thinking about things. I'm sorry that I pushed you away when I was blind. I just couldn't handle being that way and I took it all out on you. I'm sorry. When I was missing for those two days, I was in our spot by the pond. I laid there, against the tree, for two days thinking about us. I admit I wasn't thinking all that straight but it scared me, not having you in my life." admitted Noah.

"I love you and I want to be with you. I know that saying it doesn't fix any of our problems but I really want to work things out with you."

" I want that too, Luke."

"I already told Reid that I do not want to have a relationship with him and he's going back to Dallas."

"How did he take it?"

"Well, you know him. He was blunt and to the point."

"Yeah, that's him."

Luke walked up to the bed and took Noah's hand in his. "Well, Noah Mayer, looks like you're stuck with me."

"I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else."

-P-

The End.


End file.
